Norton Internet Security

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Norton Internet Security
Norton Internet Security 2009
Developed by	Symantec Corporation
Latest release	2009 or 16.0.0.125 (Windows Edition), 3.0 (Mac Edition) / 2008-09-08; 19 days ago (Windows Edition)
OS	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Type	Security Suite
License	Proprietary
Website	Symantec.com

Norton Internet Security (NIS) is a computer utility suite made by Symantec Corporation, with a focus on providing comprehensive Internet protection. It is available for both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is one of Symantec's flagship products.

1 Version history
2 Features
- 2.1 Included software
- 2.2 Product Activation
3 Criticisms
- 3.1 Windows XP Service Pack 3
4 Awards
5 Gallery
6 See also
7 References

Version history

Version 2006 and previous: Internet Explorer 7 incompatibilities

Along with the release of Windows Internet Explorer 7, the main GUI of Norton Internet Security 2006 and previous versions have encountered several scripting errors.

The current version of Norton Internet Security, however, fully supports IE7 as it does not use IE anymore. Its UI is now based on HTMLayout engine.

Because the GUI of versions prior 2007 was built using Internet Explorer's web interface (instead of using the standard GUI libraries), any changes to it will result in failure in Norton Software. How this affects the AntiVirus & Firewall so far is unknown however there are several resolutions available. One is to upgrade to NIS2007 supplied for free by Norton Support. The impact of forcing users to install this newer version on older computers will most likely result in system slowdown, something Norton has once again been criticized on.

MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) has a discussion thread on how to resolve this issue..

Version 2007 (14.0)

After many years of customer complaints regarding the speed and system utilization of the product, Symantec responded in 2007 with a much needed rewrite of the code to make the product lighter and faster, although it still uses more disk space than competitors and is frequently a source of severe system performance issues.^[1]

Version 2008 (15.0)

The 2008 version was released on August 28, 2007. It has several new features including SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response) technology, Browser Defender (Internet Explorer Exploit Protection) and Norton Identity Safe.

Shortly after NIS 2008 was released, Symantec released a 2008 add-on package. This is essentially the same path Symantec took with the 2007 product line; the 2008 package adds features such as anti-spam and parental controls. Notably, the 2008 package does not include the ad blocking and pop-up blocking features that were included in the 2007 add-on package. The decision not to include this in the 2008 package is a strange one, as the ad and pop-up blocking programme was one of the best features of Norton Internet Security and one of its selling points.

Version 2009 (16.0)

The 2009 version was released on September 8, 2008. It uses a new software architecture which boosts the software speed. It has some new features including Silent Mode, Smart Idle Time Scheduler, Program Trust, and a CPU/Memory usage monitor.

The GUI has been greatly changed, too. This includes curvy edges design, window transparency and option to modify UI theme/color.

Symantec claims that Norton 2009 is the fastest amongst its predecessors, because of its innovative new architecture that dramatically reduces the boot time impact, the scan time, the memory usage as well as the system footprint and the install time.

Independent 3rd party test lab, PassMark Software [1] was commissioned to benchmark Symantec and top security software competitors' performance impact on key metrics(1). Highlights from this report include: Fastest install: installs in only 52 seconds, least working memory usage: uses less than 7MB, fastest quick scan: scans in only 33 seconds.
With Norton 2009 the Protection System, includes an innovative new technology that uses security information from millions of users to pre-determine what files and processes are safe, and what aren’t. Coupled with Norton’s Browser Protection technology for blocking web-based attacks and enhanced SONAR technology for detecting unknown threats.
Independent security software testing firm, AV-Test recently released results of their malware protection analysis of the 2009 security suites. AV-Test [2]included the Norton Internet Security 2009 beta against 33 other well-known suites and virus scanners. Key findings from this report were that Norton Internet Security 2009 beta ranked at the top of the list by: Detecting 98 percent of malware, detecting 95 percent of spyware, producing no false positives.

Features

Included software

On both platforms, Norton Internet Security is a combination of Norton AntiVirus and Norton Personal Firewall. In an optional add-on package which can be downloaded from the official website, the Windows version adds Norton AntiSpam, while the Mac OS version adds Allume Systems' iClean, providing many of the same features. The 2007 add-on package also included parental controls, privacy controls, pop-up blocking, and ad blocking; the 2008 add-on package does not include the latter two features.

None of the utilities include in the suite is compatible with Mac OS X v10.4, and thus none are universal binaries. However, Allume's Internet Cleanup, which is a universal program, is seen as a successor to iClean. It is also widely expected that if a new version is to be released, Norton Confidential will also be included in the Internet Security suite.^{[citation needed]}

Product Activation

Norton Internet Security 2004 and subsequent versions include a product activation requirement. Norton Internet Security 2004 through 2007 can be activated online or by phone. Starting with Norton Internet Security 2008, it can only be activated online.

Criticisms

Many of the criticisms leveled at Norton AntiVirus, including being slow, inefficient and difficult to uninstall, can also be leveled at Norton Internet Security due to its inclusion of Norton AntiVirus. In September 2006, ThePCSpy.com did two studies covering several thorough tests to find out what programs slowed down Microsoft Windows most. Norton Internet Security 2006 was the number one cause of a slow PC in both tests, with Norton Internet Security 2007 being the number three cause in the second test.^{^[2]^[3]}

Further, Norton Internet Security is known to "dig deeper" into the Microsoft Windows operating system than Norton AntiVirus, causing further uninstallation problems. Symantec has released several tools to aid in the uninstallation process but you need to use all of them to complete the process.

The renewal pop-up for all Norton security products gives a choice between being reminded to renew in 1 day, or 15 days. Regardless of the choice, the popup will come back the next day. This issue (dating back from 2004) has not been fixed by Norton because it always involves people with out-of-date subscriptions, and Norton gives zero support to them.

Windows XP Service Pack 3

When a Norton 2008 product is installed, numerous registry keys are added after upgrading to Service Pack 3.^{^[4]} Symantec initially blamed Microsoft for the problem but has since accepted at least partial responsibility.^{^[5]}
A fix for the problem is now available.^{^[6]}